$7,500 for a picture, $35,800 for dinner: Obama set for two Bay Area fundraisers in September

By Josh RichmanOakland Tribune

Posted:
09/13/2011 01:50:02 PM PDT

Updated:
09/13/2011 04:44:57 PM PDT

President Barack Obama has two private fundraisers scheduled for his upcoming visit to the Bay Area, but no public events have been announced so far.

He is scheduled to attend a fundraising reception on the afternoon of Sept. 25 at the Woodside home of John Thompson, chairman of Symantec; the cost is $2,500 per ticket, or $7,500 to have a photo taken with the president.

During his tenure from 1999 through 2009 as Symantec's CEO, Thompson was the only African-American who led a major technology company. National media outlets in 2009 reported that he was shortlisted for appointment by Obama as secretary of Commerce, but the job ultimately went to Gary Locke. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, named Thompson to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission in 2009.

After the Thompson fundraiser, Obama will attend a dinner fundraiser at the Atherton home of Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg; that's event costs $35,800 per plate, and it reportedly will include a question-and-answer period after the president's remarks.

That dinner sounds like the same price and format as the fundraiser Obama had April 20 at the San Francisco home of salesforce.com CEO Mark Benioff. About 60 people attended that one, with $30,800 of each contribution going to the Democratic National Committee and $2,500 each to Obama's primary and general re-election campaigns. Earlier that day, Obama held an online town hall meeting at Facebook's Palo Alto headquarters, at which he thanked Sandberg for having taken part in a discussion on immigration issues with business leaders, government officials and faith community members.

Advertisement

The president is expected to visit Seattle before coming to the Bay Area on Sept. 25. He then will visit the San Diego and Los Angeles areas Sept. 26, and the Denver area Sept. 27 before returning to Washington.

In a recent survey, the Public Policy Institute of California found Obama's approval rating at 52 percent among all adult Californians; 51 percent among registered voters and 48 percent among likely voters, with a margin of error of 3 percentage points.